Lucas Avidan
Ethnomusicology – Research Focus: Cultural aesthetics and transmission in popular music in Tanzania

Lucas Avidan holds a bachelor’s degree in Music and English from Middlebury College, and is currently a master’s student in the Department of Ethnomusicology. His research discusses cultural aesthetics and transmission in popular music in Tanzania. Specifically, he is interested in the movement of cultural ideas throughout the Indian Ocean and how these historical movement patterns influence music being created today in Tanzania. Additionally, he is a jazz trombone player, and currently performs with the UCLA Charles Mingus Ensemble. Lucas is the managing editor of Sounding Board, the online portion of UCLA’s in-house ethnomusicology journal Ethnomusicology Review, as well as a book review editor for UCLA’s African Studies journal Ufahamu.

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